NEW ORLEANS—The Baltimore Ravens had a blueprint in mind when they hired John Harbaugh as their head coach in 2008 and drafted Joe Flacco to be their quarterback. Those plans led them to a Super Bowl crown Sunday night.

Harbaugh, who had come over from coaching defensive backs and special teams in Philadelphia, saw first-hand how Andy Reid attached himself to a hand-picked quarterback, Donovan McNabb, and how that bred success. In just five short seasons, Harbaugh has now trumped Reid’s playoff laurels as a Super Bowl-winning coach with MVP Joe Flacco as his right-hand man.

When we think of such coach-quarterback combinations, it tends to begin with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. That same connection was strong with the past three Super Bowl victors—Sean Payton and Drew Brees, Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers, Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning.

Harbaugh and Flacco’s big breakthrough that ended with a 34-31 over the 49ers shouldn’t be surprising. They had never tasted a non-playoff season together with at least one playoff win together in every year. They got stronger while knocking on the door of an AFC championship and worked to establish themselves as a division front-runner over archrival Pittsburgh.

Add it all up, and Harbaugh and Flacco have teamed up for a 63-30 overall record. That kind of winning experience was simply building up the Ravens for their Super Bowl moment.

“I don’t think we ever lost faith that this was where we were going to be,” Flacco said Monday. “This has been a long journey, and I don’t think it would be quite as enjoyable as it would be if hadn’t gone through all this stuff that we’ve been through in the last couple of years, this year.”

The Ravens still flew under the radar this season, finishing with the fifth-best record in the AFC (10-6) before their dazzling playoff run through Indianapolis, Denver, New England and San Francisco. They battled through several major defensive injuries, shakeups in offensive personnel and coaching, all while grinding through a tough schedule.

Flacco has remained the one constant on whom Harbaugh can rely. He fought to be an immediate starter as a first-round pick from Delaware and has started every game since. Flacco’s toughness and confidence has always been there, even through statistical struggles. It developed into an all-out swagger in 2012.

Harbaugh saw it early that Flacco had the attributes to be a winning quarterback on the highest level.

“Joe came up the hard way,” Harbaugh said. “Joe is not a guy that had everything laid out there perfectly before him in college. He dealt with the adversity. I felt like he was a guy that would do whatever it took to overcome whatever to be the best that he was going to be. That’s proven to be true.”

Harbaugh doesn’t see Flacco easing up at all now that he has a Super Bowl win to further stamp his status.

“He’s a guy that no matter what happens, no matter what criticism he felt in front of him, no matter the disappointments he might have, he steps up and he bounces back,” Harbaugh said. “He comes back and goes to work. I think he’ll be the same with this success."

Flacco came in on the ground floor to Baltimore, with then-fellow-rookie Ray Rice at running back as his greatest asset. Harbaugh, along with general manager Ozzie Newsome, have done well to improve the supporting cast at wide receiver, offensive line and tight end to help Flacco get to this point.

“I’ve been pretty much been the same guy all along,” Flacco said. “Obviously, as you get guys around and you mature a little bit, you become better and better, and that’s the only way to stay on top of your game.”

Now that he’s validated his belief that he belongs among the game’s “top five” quarterbacks, Flacco is about to break the bank in Baltimore as a free agent. With his flawless playoff performance (11 TDs, no interceptions) all the way through the Super Bowl against the 49ers, he has more than earned a long-term contract that rivals the richest players at his positions—see Brady, Brees, Manning. With the ring comes such leverage.

“There (are) all kinds of crazy things that can happen with these contracts that we’ve seen before, but this is a great organization,” Flacco said. “I love being (in Baltimore), a great city, so I don’t really anticipate any problems.”

This past September, Harbaugh had implored Ravens officials to reward Flacco. “Pay the man, pay the man whatever he wants” were his now prophetic words.

Harbaugh knew Flacco was a great long-term investment right from the start, and it’s the reason the Ravens are enjoying the ultimate returns.